Tajik political scientist and lawyer Shokirjon Hakimov considers that no any events of strategic importance that could have positive impact on living conditions of citizens have taken place in Tajikistan this year.
Several thousands of economic entities have shut down and a large part of the able-bodied population has left the country this year seeking better employment opportunities, Hakimov said.
According to him, “current pensions and other social allowances are not enough to cover basic needs of this social category of Tajik society.”
Expert notes that Tajikistan needs skilled personnel in all spheres, especially in government bodies, but nepotism, regionalism and corruption flourishing in the country “impede formation of modern successful state.”
“Lack of political will, private censorship, inequality in status of subjects of information space, blockage of access to news websites, division of political parties and public associations into “ours” and “others” and compulsory subscription to the state-run media impede formation of civil society in the country,” Hakimov said.
He further added that the priority tasks of the government for the next year should include implementation of the earlier decisions on a complex of problems related to foreign and domestic policy, development of dialogue between the government institutions and public-political associations and adoption of efficient measures to promote development of integration processes in the Central Asian region.
It is to be noted that corruption in Tajikistan is a widespread phenomenon that is found practically in all spheres of Tajik society. The situation is essentially similar to that in the other former Soviet republics of Central Asia.
According to some sources, citizens of Tajikistan consider government bureaucrats and services to be the most corrupt institutions, with police, customs, and tax-collection authorities at the top of the list, followed by college and hospital administrators.
Transparency International's 2017 Corruption Perception Index ranked Tajikistan 161st place out of 180 countries.
